The halls of fame in all of the major sports suffer from many problems. Whether it is criterion, selection, or definition, each sport has difficulty in clarifying to the masses what makes one a hall of famer.. For example, in the N.B.A is Alex English a Hall of famer? He never played in any significant post season games as a player. He scored a boat load of points but was his impact on the league such that he is remembered for being a dominant player. What about Dan Hampton for the Chicago Bears. Was he better than Richard Dent? Charles Haley? Jerome Brown? In my opinion he was a great player but he was not better than any of these players i have mentioned? What about someone like Omar Vizquel? He has no rings but he has the most gold gloves as a shortstop in the history of baseball. Is he better than his idol Davey Concepcion? At least Ozzie Smith has rings and memorable hits in post season games. How do we classify someone as a hall of famer? Is he the best at his position all time and/or his era? Do we say a person is a hall of famer because their names is in the media so much so they must be doing something right? ( Terrell Owens comes to mind). In golf if you win 30 tournaments you are automatically in the hall. What is the end all definition of a hall of please someone must tell me.
Let give some examples of people not in their sports hall of fame.
Jerry Kramer from the Green Bay Packers is not in the Hall of fame. How could you be on the all half century team and not be in the hall of fame. How many times have you watched old videos of the packers sweep and see Mr. Kramer out front blocking for Hornung and Taylor. Tom Mack is in the hall of fame. How many championship games did he play in and make crucial blocks to spring people into the endzone?
Andre Reed should be in the hall of fame!!! He currently has better stats in the post season than Swan, Stallworth, Bilentikoff, Monk, Brown or Carter. Only the great Jerry Rice and Micheal Irvin have more receptions and Rice has more yardage. Why isn't he in the hall?
How about Mark Jackson in the N.B.A? I believe he was second in assist all time before he retired. If Alex English is in because he is in the top 10 in scoring then Jackson is in because he is in the top 5 in assists.
Bert Blyeleven should be in the hall of fame!! The object of the game is to win games!!! "You play to win the games"!! (Herm Edwards).. 288 wins and in the top 10 in strikeouts should put you in the hall. Jack Morris should be in the Hall of fame. He was the star pitcher on two different world champion teams plus he won over 240 games. How about Dave Stewart? He pitched for the great A's teams and then with the Blue Jays and stood toe to toe with Clemens every time in the postseason and usually won.
I could name hundreds of others but despite their achievements someone's mood swing keeps these people out of the hall of fame. Shannon Sharpe should be in the hall. Reggie Miller should be in the hall. Baseball has this theory that being a first ballot hall of famer really makes you a hall of famer. A hall of famer is a hall of famer and there should not be any dispute of their candidacy. period. If you have to be convinced that someone should be in the hall of fame then they should not be in. Comparing eras and players has way too many flaws. Terrell Davis played 7 years and has better stats, influenced the league and won two rings and a league m.v.p. Gayle Sayers did known of those things and is in the hall and is regarded as one of the five or six most exciting players ever to play football. Hockey gets it right. They look at your stats, your career, and your achievements. The other main sports look at your numbers but then say "well he was mean to me once in an interview so he is not getting in on the first ballot". We all know that you cant put everyone in the hall. we also know now that since teams are playing more games the statistics are going to be better than previous eras. the only true test is the human eye test and the hope that objectivity really exists. it is a shame that so many will never be in the halls of fame. For Steve Largent to get into the hall as fast as he did and Art Monk to wait so many years is a travesty.
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